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Training Camp Cuts: 10/1/21

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With the regular season inching closer and minor league camps starting soon, teams will be paring down their training camp rosters to get closer to the group they plan to start the season with.  Accordingly, there should be plenty of news on this front today, we’ll keep tabs on those moves here.

Minnesota Wild (via team Twitter)

D Kevin Czuczman (to Iowa, AHL)
D Fedor Gordeev (to Iowa, ECHL)
D Joe Hicketts (to Iowa, AHL)
D Dakota Mermis (to Iowa, AHL)
F Mason Shaw (to Iowa, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (via press release) (and team Tweet)

F Peter Abbandonato (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
D Terrance Amorosa (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
D Charles-David Beaudoin (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
D Louis Belpedio (to Laval, AHL)
D Josh Brook (to Laval, AHL)
D Tory Dello (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
F Cedric Desruisseaux (released from ATO, to Laval, AHL)
F Justin Ducharme (released from ATO, to Laval, AHL)
F Alexandre Fortin (to Laval, AHL)
F Brandon Gignac (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
D Cody Goloubef (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
G Alexis Gravel (released from ATO, to Laval, AHL)
F Cam Hillis (to Laval, AHL)
F Arsen Khisamutdinov (to Laval, AHL)
F Jake Lucchini (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
F Jan Mysak (to Hamilton, OHL)
D Carl Neill (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
D Xavier Ouellet (to Laval, AHL)
F Kevin Roy (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
F Shawn St-Amant (released from PTO, to Laval, AHL)
F Joel Teasdale (to Laval, AHL)
F Lukas Vejdemo (to Laval, AHL)

New York Rangers (via press release)
D Anthony Bitetto
F Jonny Brodzinski
F Timothy Gettinger
F Anthony Greco
G Keith Kinkaid
F Ty Ronning

San Jose Sharks (via Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News)

D Artemi Kniazev (to San Jose, AHL)
D Jaycob Megna (to San Jose, AHL)
G Alexei Melnichuk (to San Jose, AHL)
D Montana Onyebuchi (to San Jose, AHL)
D Brinson Pasichnuk (to San Jose, AHL)

Washington Capitals (via team Twitter)

D Vincent Iorio (to Brandon, WHL)

Winnipeg Jets (via team Twitter)

G Philippe Desrosiers (released from PTO, to Manitoba, AHL)
F Haralds Egle (released from PTO, to Manitoba, AHL)
F Evan Polei (released from PTO, to Manitoba, AHL)

Tampa Bay Lightning Extend GM Julien Brisebois

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Steve Yzerman may have built the foundation, but it was Julien Brisebois who put the finishing touches on a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion. For that, the Tampa Bay Lightning have awarded their general manager a much deserved extension. As first reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Brisebois has signed a new multi-year contract to remain in Tampa.

Brisebois is just 44 years old and already has one of the most impressive front office resumes in hockey. Brisebois was promoted to GM of the Lightning in 2018 after eight years as Assistant GM and GM of the club’s AHL affiliate, at first the Norfolk Admirals and then the Syracuse Crunch. Prior to joining Tampa Bay, Brisebois has worked for his hometown Montreal Canadiens for six years as a Director/Vice President of Hockey Operations and also as AHL GM. In addition to these two Cups with the Lightning, Brisebois oversaw Calder Cup titles with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2010 and the Admirals in 2012.

This extension should squash any remaining belief out of Montreal that Brisebois could take after his mentor Yzerman and return to his hometown team. With current Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin on an expiring contract this year, there was some hope from Habs fans that perhaps the historic team could poach Brisebois. Instead, he will stick with Tampa, which still has one of the most talented rosters in the NHL even after several key departures this off-season. The salary cap could continue to chip away at the Lightning core, but with Brisebois at the helm the team can rest easy that they are in good hands.

Cole Caufield Out A Week With Upper-Body Injury

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  • The Montreal Canadiens have confirmed that young star Cole Caufield will be out for a week with an upper-body injury suffered over the weekend. The 20-year-old played against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and then was pulled from the warmup for an intrasquad game on Sunday. With how important he is going to be for the team this year, keeping him healthy to start the season is extremely important for the Canadiens.

Cole Caufield Listed As Day-To-Day

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The Montreal Canadiens today announced that forward Cole Caufield is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Caufield played in last night’s preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs but was pulled after warmups prior to today’s intrasquad scrimmage.

Head coach Dominique Ducharme confirmed today that Caufield’s injury isn’t serious, and his absence remains mainly precautionary. That’s good news for Canadiens fans, as Caufield still projects to slot in with Nick Suzuki on Montreal’s top line to begin the season.

Caufield netted a combined 17 points in 30 games between his regular season and playoff contests in 2020-21 and will improve on those totals this year, in all likelihood. He’ll undoubtedly see more than the 13:58 average ice time he saw last year.

Montreal has already struggled mightily with injuries to core pieces heading into training camp. Aside from captain Shea Weber being expected to miss the entire season, Carey Price and Mike Hoffman are both dealing with shorter-term injuries but could be out for the start of the season.

Caufield projects to be one of the favorites to take home the Calder Trophy this year along with a strong class of rookies. Last season, Caufield also scored 52 points in just 31 games while at the University of Wisconsin, along with five points in seven games for the United States at the World Junior Championships.

Training Camp Cuts: 09/26/21

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Training camp means training camp cuts. Even though the preseason only kicked off last night and waivers does not begin until later this week, teams are already making moves to trim their rosters of junior and waiver-exempt talent and failed tryouts. Keep up with all of those moves here:

Boston Bruins (via team Twitter)

D Ryan Mast (to Sarnia, OHL)
D Noah Dorey (released from ATO to Kelowna, WHL)

Los Angeles Kings (via team Twitter)

F Lorenzo Canonica (released from ATO to Shawinigan, QMJHL)
F Brett Hyland (released from ATO to Brandon, WHL)
F Logan Morrison (released from ATO to Hamilton, OHL)
F Tye McSorley (released from ATO to Oshawa, OHL)
D Cameron Supryka (released from ATO to Hamilton, OHL)
D Landon Kosior (released from ATO to Prince Albert, WHL)
D Dylan Robinson (released from ATO to Windsor, OHL)

Minnesota Wild (via team release)

F Caedan Bankier (to Kamloops, WHL)
D Daemon Hunt (to Moose Jaw, WHL)
D Carson Lambos (to Winnipeg, WHL)
D Kyle Masters (to Red Deer, WHL)
F Pavel Novak (to Kelowna, WHL)
D Ryan O’Rourke (to Sault Ste. Marie, OHL)
G Trevin Kozlowski (released from PTO to Iowa, AHL)
F Bryce Misley (released from PTO to Iowa, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (via team Twitter)

F Joshua Roy (to Sherbrooke, QMJHL)
F Xavier Simoneau (to Charlottetown, QMJHL)
G Joe Vrbetic (to North Bay, OHL)

New York Rangers (via team release)

G Talyn Boyko (to Tri-City, WHL)
F Jake Elmer (to Hartford, AHL)
G Dylan Garand (to Kamloops, WHL)
F Patrick Khodorenko (to Hartford, AHL)
F Ryder Korczak (to Moose Jaw, WHL)
D Hunter Skinner (to Hartford, AHL)
F Evan Vierling (to Barrie, OHL)
D Zach Berzolla (released from PTO to Hartford, AHL)
D Zach Giuttari (released from PTO to Hartford, AHL)
F Michael O’Leary (released from PTO to Hartford, AHL)
F James Sanchez (released from PTO to Hartford, AHL)
F Alex Whalen (released from PTO to Hartford, AHL)

Pittsburgh Penguins (via team release)

F Sam Houde (to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
D Chris Bigras (to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
D Chris Merisier-Ortiz (to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
D Josh Maniscalco (to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
G Alex D’Orio (to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
G Tommy Nappier (to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
F Lukas Svejkovsky (to Medicine Hat, WHL)
F Josh Williams (to Edmonton, WHL)
D Isaac Belliveau (to Gatineau, QMJHL)
D Ryan McCleary (to Portland, WHL)

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Montreal Canadiens Announce Several Injuries

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Saturday: Hoffman is expected to miss four weeks, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie.  On that timeline, he will miss the first few games of the regular season.

Thursday: The Montreal Canadiens started their on-ice portion of training camp today, but they were a bit shorthanded. The team announced that Paul Byron, Mike Hoffman, Joel Teasdale, Josh Brook, and Carey Price all failed their physicals as they deal with various injuries. All five players are “most likely” out for the entire camp.

While the news about Price isn’t unexpected, the fact that Hoffman is going to miss all of camp came as a surprise to many after he signed a three-year, $13.5MM contract this offseason. The 31-year-old sniper is dealing with a lower-body injury and it is not clear if he will miss any of the season at this point.

Hoffman was signed to add a little more scoring punch to a group that finished 17th in goals for last season. They bid farewell to Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault, Corey Perry, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, but should be getting a full season from young phenom Cole Caufield. One of the most consistent goal-scoring and powerplay threats in the league, Hoffman has scored 186 goals over the last seven seasons, including 17 in 52 games last year.

The Canadiens, who went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, will have a difficult path to the playoffs this year. The divisions are back to normal, meaning the Atlantic Division is packed with the likes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Toronto Maple Leafs, all teams that finished ahead of Montreal last season. Early injuries can be overcome, but they certainly won’t make things easier.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Sami Niku

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After terminating his contract with the Winnipeg Jets earlier this month, Sami Niku has found a new home. The Montreal Canadiens have signed the young defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract, one that comes with a considerable minor league salary. Niku will earn just $750K at the NHL level, but $425K in the AHL and also has negotiated a $475K minor league guarantee.

Niku, 24, has frankly dominated the AHL to this point, racking up 80 points in 114 games and winning the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s best defenseman. That minor league success only translated into 54 games at the NHL level with the Jets though, leading to the eventual parting of ways as he looked for a new opportunity.

He’ll find it in Montreal, where the last few spots of the Canadiens’ blue line are still in flux. With Shea Weber out, there are minutes to go around in various situations and David Savard can only take so many of them. Newcomer Chris Wideman seemed a likely candidate to get some powerplay time, but he’ll now be in direct competition with the much younger Niku. Alexander Romanov and Brett Kulak could rotate out of the lineup at times if the Montreal front office decides to keep eight defensemen on the roster for opening day.

The acquisition gives head coach Dominique Ducharme another talented option, but Niku and his representatives also built in some security should he fail to make the roster. A $475K guarantee is a whopping number for a player so young and shows just how effective Niku has been so far in his short career in North America. Remember, he’ll also have to clear waivers if the team tries to send him down.

Health Notes: Morin, Drouin, Ylonen

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The news out of Philadelphia surrounding Samuel Morin does not sound good. Anthony SanFillipo, co-host of Flyers podcast “Snow The Goalie”, reports that multiple sources have shared that the defenseman-turned-forward has suffered another “significant” knee injury. Morin, 26, has previously suffered two torn ACL’s in his career, both occurring within a 20-month period in 2018 and 2019. As a result, Morin played just six NHL games and five AHL games over those two affected seasons. To date, the 2013 No. 11 overall pick has played in only 29 NHL games and has just one point. While this has had a serious impact on Morin’s development as a pro, he appeared to be back on track this past season with 27 games played between the Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms and was adjusting nicely to his new position. However, yet another knee serious knee injury could very well mean another lost season for Morin, if not the end of his playing career. It’s a devastating result for a player who showed so much promise coming out of the QMJHL. SanFillipo says to expect a formal announcement from Philadelphia this week.

  • Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin has finally spoken up about his leave of absence this past season. Drouin told Chantal Machabee of RDS in a one-on-one interview that he dealt with mental health issues last year. While Drouin notes that he has dealt with anxiety for years, it turned more serious late in the 2020-21 campaign when that anxiety led to insomnia. Drouin tried to push through, but it became too difficult to handle and he decided he needed to take a break. “It was really a step back, to have a lifestyle that was easier for me,” Drouin said. “There are times when I could go three evenings without sleeping and go and play two games in two nights. This is not something that is normal for any human and I had to change that a bit.” The Canadiens placed Drouin on LTIR and he missed the team’s miraculous run to the Stanley Cup. However, he is ready to get back to work this season. Drouin said he’s “doing very well” and that “the passion never left” and that he is excited to return to the game. Habs fans hope that the talented forward is ready to get back to his scoring ways as well.
  • Montreal will have no shortage of health issues to monitor this season. Young forward Jesse Ylonen, who is expected to challenge for an NHL roster spot, will not be vaccinated against COVID-19 this season, reports TVA. This is apparently a “personal decision” that will leave Ylonen as one of only 15 or so players expected to be unvaccinated. It has already forced Ylonen into a quarantine upon his arrival to Montreal which caused him to miss a rookie game on Saturday. That could be just the beginning though, as Ylonen will be subject to unpaid suspension if he is unable to travel due to local health policies or worse if he contracts COVID.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Cody Goloubef To PTO

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The Montreal Canadiens will have some more defensive depth in training camp, as the team announced today that Cody Goloubef has signed a professional tryout.

Goloubef, 31, has bounced up and down between the AHL and NHL for the last decade, totaling 160 games played at the highest level. None of those came last season as he instead spent the entire year with the Belleville Senators, recording six points in 31 games. He split the 2019-20 season between Ottawa and Detroit, suiting up 26 times.

While his NHL career has been unspectacular, Goloubef did get the chance to suit up for Team Canada at the 2018 Olympics, where he registered two points in six games and took home a bronze medal. The same year he won the Spengler Cup but has otherwise not suited up internationally since the 2009 World Junior Championship.

For Montreal, this is likely nothing more than some training camp depth, though Goloubef could certain land a two-way deal to play for the Laval Rocket. It’s unlikely he’ll see much time in the NHL this season.

Montreal To Host 2022 NHL Draft

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The 2022 NHL Draft will be held in Montreal at the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens. The event will be held over two days, starting on July 7. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement:

We are proud to announce that, once again, we are conducting our Draft in front of the great fans of the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal, the site of the first NHL Draft in 1963, is a wonderful place to bring the NHL family together and to focus on the future of our game as our Clubs call the names of top prospects from around the world. We also thank Geoff Molson and the entire Canadiens organization for their cooperation and support while we needed to conduct the Draft remotely the past two years.

The Canadiens had been set to host the 2020 draft before the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be held virtually. The expectation since has always been that the league would return to Montreal as soon as it could, and now that is official.

The most interesting part about this announcement is that NHL free agency will not open on July 1, as it did prior to the COVID-shifted calendars. Agent Allan Walsh of Octagon Hockey tweets that the frenzy will be pushed back to mid-July, meaning once again it will be a condensed offseason. This is likely in part due to the extended season, as this year’s schedule is made up of 200 days thanks to an Olympic break in February.

It also means as PuckPedia points out, that the majority of players with signing bonuses will have them paid before the draft and free agency. That could drastically affect teams’ plans and player movement heading into the draft, as huge chunks of salary will have already been paid out.

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